Lou Reed with the Velvet Underground (Moe Tucker, left, Sterling Morrison and Doug Yule). The band helped lead rock music into the worlds of experimental theater, art, literature
and film. Velvet Underground Appreciation Society

An undated photo of the Velvet Underground. They named themselves after a Michael Leigh book about
the sexual subculture. Jim Cummins, Star File, Inc.

Reed and his bandmates pose for a portrait in 1970. Michael Ochs Archives, Getty Images

Artist Andy Warhol joins Lou Reed at a David Johanson show. Warhol was one of the band's early patrons in the New York scene of the mid-60s.“Warhol was the great catalyst,” Reed once said. Ebet Roberts, Redferns/Getty Images

Reed at the American Sound Studio in New York on March 27, 1989. Reed influenced generations of musicians, but he never approached the commercial success of some of his rock 'n' roll peers. Wyatt Counts, AP

Reed takes the podium as the Velvet Underground is inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Bandmate John Cale is at left, and at right is Martha Morrison, accepting for the late Sterling Morrison. Mark Lennihan, AP

Reed and his wife, musician Laurie Anderson, arrive at the Rolex Mentor & Protege Arts Initiative at the David H. Koch Theater in New York in November 2011. They were married in 2008. Jamie McCarthy, WireImage for Rolex